Not sure if you would consider this a technical question but, I was considering painting my own RX7.. Body work is very minimal, just a few dings here and there. Original paint.
Should I even attempt it.. I've done just about everything to my rx-7 myself, just thought it would be cool to say I painted it aswell, I realize results are not gonna be showroom, but a decent paint job is what I want..
If anyone here has fone it that is not a professional, let me know how it came out.. And for the professional, any tips and advise would be appreciate it..

AND NO I DO NOT WANT TO ROLL MY PAINT ON, not putting down the process,just one I prefer to stayaway from..
thanks
Peace
Cruz

 

curious myself, hopefully some knowledgeable auto body people would chime in.

 

Im actually in the process of doing this myself. Im not too far along yet b/c the sanding part is very time consuming. Plus the more I sand down the more imperfections I find in the metal. Ive found the regular dents, high and low spots but I've also found holes like someone stuck needles in my door. Im no expert by any means b/c this is the first time I've ever done body work but if I mess it up it wont really matter. My car cant look any worse than it already does lol. If my friend can get his paint booth set up this year then I will paint it myself but as of right now im just doing the body/prep work.

 

I saw a fellow who did his own in some dupont single stage bought from a part store. He did it in his garage, took his time with the coats and then buffed it up himself with some minor wet sanding. Looked awesome to me.

 

Um,

I don't want to curb your enthusiasm, let me start out by saying I did a garage/driveway paint job on the car you see in my signature (and I have done a total of 6 cars in my life over the last 30 years). I will also tell you that you might be able to save money. I must tell you that you may take years off your life and/or seriously degrade the quality of your life with these toxic materials (stripper, polyurethanes, etc) IF you don't take the proper precautions like wearing a charcoal mask or positive ventilator/mask while painting/prepping.

Yes, you can paint it yourself assuming you have a place that you can get materials from but I strongly suggest that you find a place that is equipped (positive ventilation) to handle this stuff - ideal would be a friend that works in a paint shop that will do it on the side with you doing the prep. If you don't have an adequate compressor or gun or booth, you are going to be spending $ for a one time job that you may or may not be satisfied with when you are done as your first (or second or third) job won't be perfection.

Scott

 

GREAT ADVICE!!! WORTH LISTENING TO! Hell, taking this valuable advice into consideration I think i would prep all I can, glaze and sand any scratches, remove all possible moldings, etc.. and then just go to maaco. Probably a better result in the end anyway.

 

did one last year in autobody class. it was a Great experence and very relaxing.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/starting-work-my-85-se-618998/

Everyone says "this was your first time"

 

Very nice first effort, everyone take not though. "Body shop class", this involves a teacher for guidance and safety and all the right breathing apparatus for sure as well. Soooo, done well, taught well, and more importantly, "done safe". To think of it now, I wonder how many 80 year old retired body men are still kicking????

 

They were very lax on safety, The instructor did not wear a mask in the booth. No one but me wore a dust mask while doing body work.


For the do it at home.

1. Wear a dust mask when sanding
2. Wear a resporator when shooting
3. Dont drop anything on your toes
4. Get a copy of Paintucation from the local Library and learn how to hold the gun and spray.

 

Dont worry about runs. Runs are far easier to fix than "dry" areas.

 

i know in my area you can let a colleges autobody shop paint your car for cheap. a buddy of mine got his civic painted black for like $300. they did all of the prep work and everything. that being said, it wasnt a show finish, but it got the results he wanted.

 

No I am leaving the body work to the pro's Next door to my work, there is a body shop(they quated me 5000 dollars to paint my seven) The body man is a Rx-7 fan and he is gonna do all the body work, and I am gonna try to paint it...
Those anyone know if this can be done with a standard air compressor,, my concern is water...
Thanks Cruz
PEACE

 

It can be done, use an HVLP gun though. Bets bet for water is get a water trap and put it on AFTER about 100 feet of hose, then some more hose and hook it to your gun.

 

If you have a compressor (I used a "3.5HP", rated at stall and is really more like a 2.5HP), the biggest thing that you can do to keep water out of the gun is putting up black iron pipe as a cooler/condenser - 40 feet of it, followed by a vertical drop and then a water trap halfway up the vertical drop (which had a drain on the bottom). If you paint during the humid summer, the water has to go somewhere and it can be really bad if you don't have this piping.

I used an EVO LVLP which was a little stressed doing the clearcoat (it is very gooey) but it never sucked the tank dry and was thoroughly impressed with its operation considering its low cost (<$100).

The D/A sander readily sucked the tank dry and was 4x the load of the LVLP gun.

Scott

 

There are one to many Zeros up there.

 

I picked up a 7hp 80 Gal 14.5 CFM at 90 Last month for 360 off of craigs list. Just need a few more tool and then some plumbing to start working at my new rental shop.

 

Scott1982 could you draw up a little something I can go by, as far as the piping... I work in a cabinet shop, and when things are slow we do odd stuff. I was painting a door with a hvlp sprayer and water was flowing out of the gun and the paint looked really bad. I'm starting to build up the courage to do this I just dont want to have a mess in my hands when all is said and done........
"Orange peel" is a big concern as well, are there any tricks to avoid the problem all together, or is a wet sand and buff process all the time?
ALso what types of paint should I look for, Are there paint that have the clear allready mixed, I ask becuase everyone I spoke with said that the main problem they saw was laying the clear on without drips...
Thanks Cruz
Peace

 

Shoot it wet
Buy a better, more expensive Clear
or Wet sand.

You can also Dry sand The local paint store can show you the 3m system for doing it.

 

I will post a picture of what I have done, it makes it easy to see...

If you have only a few dents, why not use paintless dent removal to save the original paint? In case you can't tell, I am really trying to discourage you from doing this

The clear coat is the hard part - it is toxic as all get out, it dries very slowly (which means any dust from the surrounding 5 miles shows up). Now, runs - no big deal in the clear (and hard to get in the base), you just sand them out (2000, 1500, 1000 paper). The key is to put it on wet enough (and more coats) because just as the prior post said, it is hard to fix where it is "dry".

 

Here is what i just got done with this winter. It took me a long time to do it but i learned a ton, saved alot of money, got more satisfaction from it, and most of all gained alot of respect for the people that do it for a living.. i used propane heaters to burn off any humidity and used 150 ft of flexible air line. the first 75 ft i coiled up and hung from a rafter in my shop to try and keep the water out, then put a dryer before the spray gun. And i agree with the others, proper ventilation and respirator mask are a must.



https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/my-way-painting-650337/

 

Shoot it on a Day when It is raining.

 

Well, this is not a picture, but is a good explanation with figures...

http://www.oldsmobility.com/air-compressor-piping.htm